thankful for you...

Hello friends!!  Hope you are having a lovely weekend!  I'm popping in with a card for this week's Less is More challenge, as well as One Layer Wednesday.   I haven't done a OLW challenge in ages!!  But the LIM challenge (to make a one layer card and use foliage) and the OLW challenge (to make a card expressing gratitude) dovetailed perfectly!!  YAY!!  I love the idea behind this week's OLW because Susan (of Simplicity and founder of OLW) is so right that Thanksgiving has become a sort of "lost holiday" here in the US.  So much focus is put on Halloween and then once Halloween is done the rush is on to get to Christmas and in the process Thanksgiving gets sort of "lost in the shuffle".   I'm going to try to make sure that this year I'm more thankful at Thanksgiving and to let friends and family know how thankful I am to have them in my life!

I rooted around in my stamp stash rejecting various sets until I remembered that I had never, no never, inked up any of the stamps in the super cute Taylored Expressions set Love Grows Here.  The set is full of sweet little images of trees for various seasons of the year.  I used the image with the picket fence because it made me think of fall.  I colored the image with Copic markers and then added the sentiment (from the MFT ALM set Sweetest Pumpkin in the Patch) using Real Rust ink.  Sweet and simple!

Now I don't normally share personal photos, but I just had to share one or two of my little guy as he headed into school on Friday.  He is one of the things that I am so very thankful for!!  He looks so serious in the photo on the left!   He was so cute on Thursday as I drove him down to school exclaiming to me "I love school, mom"!  Hopefully he will always feel that way about school!!

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI vintage cream; Stamps: Taylored Expressions and My Favorite Things; Copic Markers; Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa and Stampin Up! Real Rust

Kitchen Inspired... OLW93

Hello, friends!!  Happy Friday!  Here with a card for the current One Layer Wednesday challenge (93).  OLW is another "just for fun" challenge that I used to do all the time and now I'm trying to get back into the habit of playing along each week.  This week Heather Telford is the challenge host and she has asked us to make a one layer card inspired by something in our kitchen.  I'm going to be real honest here, but I'm not one of those people who can look at something in their house and make a card based on it.  But I decided to have a go since I need to get outside my box.  

My card was inspired by a bottle of anti-bacterial hand soap from Bath & Body Works.  As I looked around my kitchen for something, anything, to inspire me, my eyes zeroed in on that bottle because of the lush pears on the label.  The scent of the hand soap is pears and let me tell you that soap really does smell like pears.... so yummy!  Anywhoo... inspired by the beautiful pears on the label I got out a Stampin Up! set called "Faith in Nature".  All of the images are a kinda collage style and one is of a pear.  I stamped the image using Memento Bamboo Leaves and then colored it with Copic markers (after coloring two test images to figure out exactly how to color the pear).  The sentiment is from the same set and was stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black.   I admit... not super inspired, but I'm trying!

Thanks for stopping by....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Stampin Up!; Ink:  Memento; Copic Markers

A Three-fer....

{For my Shining the Light post click HERE)

Hey there... back with a card for three challenges:  Less is More (one layer + use script); ColourQ & One Layer Wednesday (use a swirl on your card).   I love it when I can make a simple card and have it work for three different challenges!

My layout is pretty simple and a slight variation on one that I use a lot (maybe a little too much, but hey... if it ain't broke... don't fit it!!).    The ColourQ colors this week are Certain Celery, Chocolate Chip, Calypso Coral , Blushing Bride (yes... Stampin Up! pays someone to come up with these names!!) and white.  So I stamped the script border from the PTI set Background Basics Text Style using Certain Celery.  The swirl (okay.. it does look more like a flourish!) from the Hero Arts set Thank You Flourishes was stamped using Calypso Coral and the "Hello" (from another Hero Arts set) was stamped using Chocolate Chip.  Some light pink rhinestones were added to the swirl to bring in the Blushing Bride color (you do have to look rather closely at the card to see that the rhinestones are light pink... sorry about that!).   Like I said... super simple.  

Now... I must say a thank you to all the new followers I have acquired over the last few days.  I'm tickled that you decided to follow my humble little blog!

Finally... a few weeks ago a wonderful papercrafter and fellow LIMette, Sylvie (Gibmiss) gave me an award:  The Liebster Blog Award.   "Liebster" is German for 'dearest.' The award is a 'share-the-love' arrangement, given to inspirational bloggers with fewer than 200 followers (based on Google followers).    There is a to do list that must be accomplished in order to post the badge on your blog.  Alas, I have not done that yet because several of the bloggers I had in mind to send the award to have recently received it.  So, I need to revise my list.  But I wanted to do the first thing on the list and thank Sylvie for giving me the award!   So, thank you very much Sylvie!!  I truly appreciate the award and you!! 

Thanks for stopping by.....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Inks:  Stampin Up!; Stamps:  Hero Arts & PTI; Rhinestones:  KaiserCraft

Poppy Dreams....

{For my ODBD Shining the Light post, please click here}
Hello!! It Sunday and I'm here with a card for two CAS challenges:  Less is More (use neutrals) and One Layer Wednesday (black, cream & a bit of bling).    I hadn't done a OLW challenge in about a month.  Not entirely sure why other than maybe I was too busy or I was just lazy.  I love one layer challenges, but if I have to think about what I have to do too much then forget it!  Anyway.. when I saw Jennifer's challenge this week I had to play along this week.   I was so happy to see that this week's LIM fit perfectly with OLW because well... black and cream are definitely neutral!

I haven't used any of my Penny Black stamps in ages and decided to get a couple out to use for my card.  I used a PB woodblock stamp called Poppy Poem and a sentiment stamp called Dreams Come True.  The poppy image stamped using a somewhat dried out black ink pad.  The image is black, but not a strong black.  I did this so that the sentiment (stamped using a juicier black ink pad) would stand out more.   Some clear rhinestones from Want2Scrap were added to the center of the flower, as well as under the word "true" to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI cream; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Close to My Heart black & Memento Tuxedo Black; Rhinestones:  Want2Scrap

its the little things....

Hey there!!   Finally getting a chance to post my card for this week's Less is More challenge.  I made it earlier in the day, but had to leave before I could get it posted on the old bloggo!!   This week Chrissie & Mandi have given us a sketch to use with some very specific parameters.   We are to use a rectangular card, the orientation must be landscape and the band must remain in a vertical position.  Very simple rules and not hard for me to follow at all.  I had been waiting to see what this week's LIM challenge was to see if it would work with the current One Layer Wednesday challenge and YAY, it does!!!!   The OLW challenge is to use grey and a pop of color.

Because I was going to keep the card a one layer card I pretty much knew I had only one set of stamps I could use to achieve the desired look and that was my Hero Arts cling set Two Vine Scrolls.   I stamped one of the images on the white cardstock using Ancient Page Stone Grey ink and then added just a few tiny gems in a pretty turquoise blue color.  The sentiment from the Hero Arts set Find Joy was also stamped in Stone Grey.  I think I should have used black ink instead of the grey, but overall I''m very pleased with the card.  Lots of lovely white space.... it makes me {grin}!

A big THANK YOU is due to all the wonderful LIMettes who left me so many wonderful comments on last week's LIM card.   I so appreciate each and everyone of you!!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Ink:  Ancient Page; Rhinestones:  Kaiser Craft

For the Birds....

Hey there!!   Here with my second post for the day and this time I have two cards!  The challenge this week at Less is More is one layer and we are to use a bird image on our card.   I was so hoping that this week was a one layer LIM challenge as I hoping to combine the LIM challenge with this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge to use pink and red.  I don't have a ton of stamp sets with birds in them, but a couple did come to mind when I saw the LIM challenge.

For the first card I got out my PTI Iconic Images and stamped the bird in Stampin Up! Cherry Cobbler and the sentiment in Stampin Up! Melon Mambo (a really nice dark pink).   I added a few rhinestones and I was done... love all that white space!!

For the second card I used a really fun Stampin Up! set I got last year called Valentine Defined.  When I saw the set I had to get it because one of the images is a cute pair of flamingos and I like flamingos.  Anywhoo... this card is a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 square card.  I stamped the image and sentiment in Melon Mambo and then added the little red rhinestone heart.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & rustic cream; Stamps:  PTI & Stampin Up! Ink:  Stampin Up!; rhinestones: Hero Arts

Sharing Some Peace & Grace...

Hey there!!  Today I have two cards.  One card is for the current ODBD Shining the Light challenge (a sketch) and the other is for One Layer Wednesday (to make a card that says "peace" to me).  Both cards use ODBD stamps. 

First up is my card for Shining the Light.   When I went to work on this card I had very different plans for it, but try as I might nothing was coming together.    It was just one of those days.  So when I decided to give up on the first idea the ODBD sketch was waiting there to save the day!  The background was created using the new PTI Quatrafoil die (what a coool die!!) and PTI's Rustic Cream cardstock.  After I adhered it to the front of the card I stamped the main focal image from "Serve the Lord" on Rustic Cream cardstock using kraft colored ink and then die cut the image using the coordinating die.  The verse (also from Serve the Lord) was stamped over the focal image using Rich Cocoa ink.  A piece of kraft cardstock was cut, the ribbon (from SU!) was adhered and then the piece matted with dark brown cardstock.  The focal image was then adhered and everything attached to the card base.  After looking at the card for awhile I decided that it needed a little bit extra and so I added the brown rhinestones.   I love the clean look of the card.

For the second card I had to use green and my favorite stamping layout because when I look at both I'm totally at peace!   The layout I used is one that I have used over and over again.   Stamping an image on the lefthand side of the card, overstamping a sentiment and then adding a few pearls or gems... sigh.... to me so very peaceful!  Add the color green and well... double sigh!!   I just wish I could have gotten a better photograph. 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI; Stamps:  ODBD; Ink:  SU! and Memento; Dies:  PTI, ODBD; Gems:  Hero Arts; Ribbon:  SU!

Its a Green Thing...

Hey there!! Happy Saturday... got several cards today and all of them feature the color green.... which happens to be my favorite color!!   Since it's Saturday that means there is a new challenge over at Less is More and the challenge this week is to use the color green.   After checking out the LIM challenge I decided to see if Susan (LateBlossom) had posted a new One Layer Wednesday challenge and she had!!   Her challenge this week is to use one sentiment stamp on a non-traditional sized card and to make more than one card using that stamp with a different ink.  So... I thought I would combine the two challenges and came up with these two cards:

They both use the SU! color Wild Wasabi, but in different forms.   Obviously on the white one I used the Wild Wasabi ink and the second one uses Wild Wasabi cardstock and Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts Christmas set, Joy to All. To give them a bit of interest I added some score lines.  But once I finished making them I decided that I wanted to make a different card for Less is More and came up with this one:

Still used green, but this time I added in  Memento's New Sprout.  The stamps are from PTI (Harvest Berries and Hero Arts).  And since today is my birthday I decided to make this card a birthday card.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Wild Wasabi; Ink:  Wild Wasabi; Delicate Golden Glitz & New Sprout; Stamps:  PTI, Hero Arts; Gems:  Hero Arts

Wishing You....

Hey There!!  Happy Saturday everyone!  Time for another Less is More post.   This time I'm combining this week's Less is More challenge (to use stars) with the current One Layer Wednesday challenge (to use just red and white).   My card today makes me happy, happy, happy!  I just love the simplicity of using this gorgeous Penny Black sentiment stamp along with a single little star from the PTI set "Merry Little Christmas".  I did add a bit of bling to the center of the star, too.   And all that white space????  Sigh......  happy!!

Well... that's about it!  Hope everyone has a fabby weekend! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Penny Black & PTI; Ink:  SU! Riding Hood Red; Gem:  KaiserCraft.

Bringin' Out the Red and Green...

(For my Flourishes Timeless Tuesday post click here.)

Hey there!  Have a couple of Christmas cards today.   One card is for two challenges and the other is for a third challenge.  Normally I would do separate posts for these cards, but I have a migraine today and I just don't feel like doing two posts.

The first card is for the current One Layer Wednesday challenge to use stripes on your card and for the Paper Players to make a CAS Christmas card using red and green.   Lately I have been seeing cards made using strips of double-sided tape and glitter.  I had never given it a try and thought I would use the technique for my OLW/Paper Players card.  My stripes aren't exactly straight, but pretty darn close for just eye-balling it!  The holly leaves and sentiment are from the PTI set Holiday Button Bits.

My second card is for the current Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light challenge to make a holiday card (Christmas or Thanksgiving) and use only ODBD stamps.  This card is also red and green so it would work for the Paper Players challenge, too, but I'm only entering it in the ODBD challenge.  Since I'm still not firing on all cylindars, creatively, this card is pretty darn simple.  I used the ODBD Poinsettia Background stamp and a sentiment from the ODBD set Blessed Christmas.

Supplies:  Stamps:  PTI Holiday Button Bits & ODBD Poinsettia Background & Blessed Christmas; Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream, SU! Handsome Hunter; Ink: SU! Handsome Hunter Craft, Cherry Cobbler; Ribbon:  SU! Cherry Cobbler seam binding; Scor-Tape; Dark Green Art Glitter; PTI dark red buttons

A Season of ....

Hey there!  Got a card today for several challenges:  One Layer Wednesday, Stampin Sisters in Christ and Dolce Stamps & Cards. 

This week Susan (LateBlossom) is hosting One Layer Wednesday and she challenged us to check out the blog of Janelle and find something on her blog to use as inspiration for our card.  We could CASify one of her cards or find something on her blog to spark our creativity.  I decided to CASify one of Janelle's cards found here.   Now when I saw Susan's challenge I immediately thought how well it would work with this week's Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge to have the word "blessing" on your project.  To be honest if you want to be lifted up you really need to either check out Grace's devotional over at SSIC and/or just spend a bit of time reading Janelle's blog.  Both will inspire you! 

The card I chose from Janelle's blog was one she made recently and is a Thanksgiving card.   Obviously I went in the same direction by using leaves on my card, but in a one layer version.   How does my card fit the Dolce Stamps & Cards challenge?  Well, their challenge is to use the colors of a fall.  So I got out the following Stampin Up! colors Old Olive, So Saffron, Really Rust, More Mustard & Close to Cocoa and got to work.  I used the rock & roll technique to layer the colors.  The maple leaf stamp is from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from PTI.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Hero Arts & PTI; Inks:  Stampin Up!

Times of Refreshing...

Hey there!! Wow... I think the last time I posted was Sunday!!  I have been busy, though, just most of it is posted over on Splitcoaststampers.

Anyway... have a card today for three challenges:  One Layer Wednesday, Stampin Sisters in Christ and ODBD Shining the Light.   The OLW challenge was use a sentiment as your focus or a sentiment/image as the focus... I went with the sentiment/image portion.  The SSIC challenge is to have something with wings on your card and to use a scripture.  Finally the ODBDSLC challenge is to use fall colors or theme... I went with fall colors. 

This simple one layer card took me a long time to make simply because I could not get the sentiment stamped correctly (ie... STRAIGHT!!).  I stamped the butterfly image from the ODBD set Faith on white cardstock using Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with the following Copics:  Y21, Y23, Y35, Y38, YR02, YR07, YR09, YG93, YG95, R89, RV99, E15 and E25.  The sentiment was also stamped using Tuxedo Black.  A few Hero Arts gems in a pretty orange were added and I was done.  Took awhile to get a decent picture as it is a dreary day today.

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Ink;  Tuxedo Black; Stamps:  ODBD; Copic Markers

Welcome Back OLW!!!

Wooohooo!! One Layer Wednesday is back, baby and this week Jennifer is challenging us to make a one layer baby card.    Until afew months ago I did not own a dedicated baby stamp set.   I had a few baby related stamps that came in sets containing other images, but no set completely baby related.  In fact I never really thought that I was good at making baby cards until I got three baby cards accepted for publication (they will be in the March, 2012 issue of CardMaker).  When that happened I decided to get a stamp set dedicated to babies and that set is PTI's Bundle of Love.   I also want to get PTI's Night, Night Moon, because is it just so darn cute!

Anyway... on to my very simple card.  I used two colors, teal and olive green.  I think that color combo could work for a boy or a girl.   The card was so quick to make, in fact, that I got it done before I took my big kid to school!!  Make sure you check out One Layer Wednesday.  To celebrate its return, Jennifer is having a fabby giveaway.  Some lucky player will win some awesome A Muse goodies!!

Oh and a quick "hello" and "thank you" to some new followers! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream; Stamps:  PTI Bundle of Love; Ink:  SU! Taken with Teal & Old Olive

Bloom....

Back with a card for One Layer Wednesday.  This week Susan challenged us to do some ink layering on our cards.  Ink layering is something I tend to do when I'm making one layer cards.  I like stamping an image in one color of ink and then layering a sentiment over the image using a darker ink.   But usually I just keep it to two inks.  For this card I used more than just two inks. 

For the card I got out two of my older PTI sets, Text Box and Spiral Bouquet.   The Text Box set contains a set of rectangles that have different images on them.  For my card I actually turned one of them over and inked up the flat, blank side and stamped it on the cardstock using Memento New Sprout ink.  I then layered the stem from Spiral Bouquet over the rectangle using SU!'s Pear Pizzazz ink.  The flower heads were stamped using SU!'s Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo.  Finally, I stamped the word "Bloom" from Spiral Bouquet using Pear Pizzazz and then layered "where you are planted" over that using Melon Mambo.    I really like how the card turned out.

Thanks for taking a peek....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI White; Stamps:  PTI Text Box & Spiral Bouquet; Ink:  Memento New Sprout; SU! Melon Mambo; Pretty in Pink; Pear Pizzazz

OLW - Just For You

A short post with my card for One Layer Wednesday.  Susan provided us with a beautiful photo she purloined (stole as she put it) from Pinterest to use as inspiration.  There are many different directions you could go in with the photo, but I chose to focus on the colors.  The main colors in the photo are yellow, green, and white.  But one thing I noticed was the centers of some of the flowers were a dark sort of burgundy color which provided a nice contrast.   So when I put together my card I used a burgundy colored ink for the sentiment to provide that same bit of contrast. 

Thanks for taking a peek...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Stamps:  Stampin Up!, Ink:  SU! Pear Pizzazz and Bravo Burgundy, Memento Dandelion

Summer Fun with One Layer Wednesday

So this week the incredibly talent Susan is hosting One Layer Wednesday and she gave us the challenge of creating a one layer card using these summertime colors:  yellow, orange & aqua.   When I first read the challenge I groaned... because I don't really do alot of creating with orange.  Nothing against orange, but it just isn't a color I pick that often unless it is forced upon me!    But I rose to the occasion because this is after all a challenge!  I started thinking and remember a super fun summertime card I made last week using the Hero Arts/BasicGrey Lauderdale cling set.  The set includes a really fun palm tree image.  So I got that set out, along with the Hero Arts set "A Kiss from the Sun" and came up with this little number:

And yes... I realize my aqua will probably be considered by some to be more of a bright blue, but to be honest aqua can encompass a range of colors.  After stamping the trees I just had to adds a couple of bright blue cord buttons because they just looked so darn cute!!  Anywho... I'm also going to be putting this in to the current Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger because well... the bright colors in the photo just make me think of summer!

Thanks for taking a peek....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Inks:  Memento - Bahama Blue, Tangelo & Dandelion; Buttons:  DeNami Design & SU!

One Layer Wednesday.... for Dad

I haven't done a One Layer Wednesday challenge in what seems like a very long time!  Susan's last challenge was to find inspiration from some lovely baby shower cakes over at the Cake Wrecks blog.  Now I found several cakes that inspired me, but none of my ideas worked for a one layer card. (insert frowny face).  Then last week Jennifer asked us to use a dog or a cat image on our card.   Well I was definitely out for that one as I don't own a single dog or cat stamp (insert second frowny face).

Thankfully, this week I can play along as Susan has asked us to make a father's day card for a special father we know.   My dad has been gone for far more years then I care to count and I miss him tremendously, so this card will be going to my brother who is currently being treated for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.   He is a really great guy and I love him to bits!  The stamps are from the newly released Flourishes set "What a Catch"! 

Thanks for taking a peek...

One Layer Wednesday - Round and Round

A couple of cards for One Layer Wednesday.  Susan set the challenge for us to make a card using circles.  Now when I first saw the challenge I immediately thought of my PTI set Dot Spot.  A super fun set full of circles within circles.  Then I thought of the really neat Hero Arts stamp I have called Large Artsy Circle.  But then I thought to myself "geez... get outside your box, Rosemary, and think of something else"!  So then my thoughts drifted to a sweet Memory Box stamp called Bramble Wreath and to the cute Hero Arts stamp Bicycle.  So I made two cards.

The first card uses the Bramble Wreath stamp and a stamp of my favorite saying.  I used this week's color combo from Splitcoaststampers of Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake & Black. 

For the second card I stamped the bicycle image using the Hero Hues ink, Grass.  A yummy, juicy and oh so springy color.  I colored the basket and teeny tiny flowers with Koh-i-Nor pencils.  The sentiment is from the PTI set Everyday Button Bits.

Thanks for taking a peek....

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI White; SU! Crumb Cake; Inks:  SU! Cherry Cobbler; PTI True Black; Hero Art Grass; Stamps:  Hero Arts, PTI & Memory Box; Koh-i-Nor pencils

It's the Little Things...

*Edited to add:  "Well... OOOPS!! I totally missed that my one layer card was supposed to be a "thank you card"!  Oh well..." 
That make life better!    And that happens to be the sentiment I used on my card for One Layer Wednesday.   The challenge Susan set us this week is the opposite of Jennifer's challenge from last week.   Last week Jennifer challenged us to use a new stamp that had never seen ink.  So this week  Susan challenged us to use a stamp we have had for a while, but have not inked up in recent history.   I have lots of stamps that fall into that category (shocking, I know!).   After some thought I decided to use my Stampin Up! set "Happy Harmony" because it is one of my favorite SU! sets.   And since I'm slightly obsessed with the current Splitcoaststampers color challenge combo of Crumb Cake, purple and ivory I made another card using those colors. 

Thanks for taking a peek...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream; Stamps:  SU! Happy Harmony; Ink:  SU! Crumb Cake; Nick Bantock Damson Plum

A One Layer Wednesday Card

Quick post with my carde for One Layer Wednesday.  The challenge set by Jennifer this week was to use the colors pink and green and stamps that had never, ever seen ink.  Sadly the never, ever seen ink portion of the challenge was all too easy to fulfill!!  For my card I used the Flourishes set Clematis & Butterflies and Stampin Up! inks Pretty in Pink and Pear Pizzazz. 

Thanks for taking a peek...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Vintage Cream; Stamps:  Flourishes; Ink:  Stampin Up!; Pearls:  Hero Arts